The Red and Black

Not all Americans know what it’s like to be in the middle of a war zone, but Cliff Kindy will help Athens residents understand life in Iraq a little better.

Kindy, a member of the Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT), will speak tonight at the Presbyterian Student Center and Friday at the Student Learning Center and the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship.

Kindy will share his experiences and thoughts of Iraq — a place where he has been the last three years, for five months each year.

Kindy and other CPT members were in Iraq both before and during the war in an effort to bring an “organized, nonviolent alternative to war,” according to Kindy and the CPT Web site (www.cpt.org).

CPT visited Iraqi cities, including Baghdad and Fallujah, worked with human rights organizations and trained Muslim peacemaker teams.

Kindy said one of his most memorable experiences while in Iraq was when a suicide bomber walked in the room and threatened to kill him and others. But he said he is still alive today because the bomber left the scene before detonating any explosives.

Although he said he came in contact with suicide bombers and other dangers quite often, Kindy also was met with kindness, especially in the beginning of his trips.

“It was amazing,” he said. “One time, I was in a car accident, and in the hospital, the doctor said, ‘No matter who you are — Iraqi or American, Muslim or Christian — we will take care of you.’ … I realized, ‘Wow, I was the enemy, and he took care of me.’”

Kindy met different kinds of Iraqis, those high in power and Christian religious leaders.

Many Iraqis would say “Welcome” and invite the teams into their homes for tea, even if the Iraqis were suspicious, but now the American/Iraqi interaction is changing with the worsening conditions, Kindy said.

“(The Iraqis) have more and more suspicion of people of the United States,” he said.

Kindy experienced limited electricity, gas lines only lasting maybe 48 hours, security problems and 10 days without water.

“We can’t say things are getting better,” he said.

When Kindy returns home to Indiana, he has a major transition from the everyday war and violence — he and his wife have an organic market garden.

“I sometimes jokingly say that Iraq is my vacation from my hard work in the garden, and my garden is my vacation from the trials and tribulation in Iraq,” he said. “It is true that a garden is a healing place — the garden is a place to renew my creativity and renew my faith in life.”

Kindy said he does not know when he will return to Iraq but said he will go back if given the chance, or he may be involved in an anti-war campaign in the United States.

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